Electrically heated vessel enclosed car bottom furnace system

ABSTRACT

AN ARRANGEMENT AND SYSTEM FOR HEAT TREATMENT INCLUDING A PLURALITY OF FURNACE ENCLOSURES RECEIVING MOVABLE HEATING CHAMBERS AND MOVABLE BOTTOM MATERIAL CARRIERS FOR EACH, THE CAR BOTTOM CARRIERS AND HEATING CHAMBERS BEING MOVABLE ONTO A TRANSPORT CAR ARRANGEMENT FOR SELECTIVELY MOVING THE CHAMBERS AND MATERIAL CARRIERS BETWEEN LOADING, UNLOADING AND MAINTENANCE ZONES.

United States Patent lnventor Karl H. Seelandt Oregon, lll. Appl. No. 12,290 Filed Feb. 18, 1970 Patented June 28, 1971 Assignee Sola Basic Industries, Inc.

Milwaukee, Wis.

ELECTRICALLY HEATED VESSEL ENCLOSED CAR BOTTOM FURNACE SYSTEM 14 Claims, 5 Drawing Flgs.

U.S.Cl 13/1,

263/28.266/13, 13/34 Int. Cl .t F27d 3/12 Field oiSearch .l 13/],33,

[ 56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,063,693 11/1962 Kay .7 263/28 3,432,605 3/1969 Bolkcom et al l3/33X Primary Examiner-Harold Broome Assistant ExaminerRoy N. Envall, Jr Atzorney smytheand Moore ABSTRACT: An arrangement and system for heat treatment including a plurality of furnace enclosures receiving movable heating chambers and movable bottom material carriers for each, the car bottom carriers and heating chambers being movable onto a transport car arrangement for selectively moving the chambers and material carriers between loading, unloading and maintenance zones.

ELECTRICALLY HEATED VESSEL ENCLOSED CAR BOTTOM FURNACE SYSTEM This invention relates to movable car bottom type furnaces and systems for heat treatment of metals or other materials.

The prior art has-used various types of car bottom furnaces, but the arrangement thereof has not always been such as to provide for the most efficient operation of the apparatus. The equipment is often expensive. Lost use of the furnace while maintenance is carried out can be costly.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a system and apparatus for heat treatment of metals in an improved and more efficient manner.

Another of the objects of the invention is to provide an improved chamber wall and car bottom for heat treatment systems. I

In one aspect of the invention, furnaces or furnace vessels are arranged in relation to a central material transfer zone so as to expedite transfer of material in and out of each furnace so that material can be transported to and from loading and unloading zones. Each furnace vessel has a movable furnace chamber wall therein and a movable car or furnace bottom material carrier. The furnace chamber wall assembly and the car bottoms are mounted on wheels or other means which cooperate with matching rails or surfaces. The central transport zone has a transport carriage means for selectively receiving a furnace chamber means or car bottom so as to transport it to the desired location in a highly efficient utilization of the various portions. The material can be treated under vacuum and/or gas atmosphere. The furnace chamber means and the car bottoms can'be interchanged relative to each other and the various vessels.

These and other objects, advantages and features of the invention will become apparent from the following description and drawings, which are merely exemplary.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a sectional elevation of a furnace which can be used in carrying out the invention;

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a system in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 4 is an elevational view of a furnace chamber means and car bottom separated therefrom showing schematically the heating zone arrangement; and

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of an assembled chamber and car bottom.

One of the furnaces will be described, reference being made to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. The furnace is generally indicated by reference numeral and comprises an outer enclosure 11, which in one form may be cooled by any suitable means such as water, other liquid or a gas. The furnace includes furnace chamber wall assembly 12 which is mounted on rollers 13 and supported on rails 14 so that the chamber 12 can be moved out of the furnace enclosure of vessel 11. The movable furnace car bottom or material conveying car 15 is carried on wheels 16 mounted on rails or other surfaces 17. The movable car bottom canbe rolled out of the furnace enclosure when furnace closure plate 18 is raised or opened. Closure plate 18 can be raised vertically on support 19 in any desired manner.

Car bottom 15 has floor supports 15A for receiving the metal or material to be heat treated. The material to be treated is illustrated as coils 20 of strip metal, such as steel, which is to be annealed or heat treated.

The walls of movable chamber 12 and the movable car bottom 15 can be of a suitable ceramic capable of withstanding the conditions within the furnace during its cycle of operation.

Pipe means 21 can be used for providing a connection to a suitable vacuum producing apparatus such as a conventional steam jet mechanism capable of providing the desired vacuum within the furnace. Pipe 22 can be used to connect the interior of the furnace with a supply of hydrogen or other gas to be used in conjunction with the heat treating function. The vacuum and gas supply systems can be centralized if desired.

For cooling or circulation purposes, fans 23 can be placed adjacent the top wall of the furnace, such fans having heat exchanger means 24 made of material to withstand the furnace conditions. The heat exchangers can be located at the inlet of the fan (not shown). Ducts or passages 24A (FIG. 2) permit passage of the atmosphere from the interior of the heating chamber to the fan. Baffles 25 are located between the fans so as to insure proper circulation. The fans in the form shown have the motor located exteriorly of the furnace 10. Baffle means 24A under the fans are used to separate the exhaust flow from the inlet flow.

The movable chamber or furnace wall assembly 12 is carried by wall supports 26. The vertical elements 27 (FIG. 2) thereof have brackets 27A mounted thereon to carry rollers or wheels 13. By placing the rollers 13 on the sides of the movable wall supports instead of at the bottom of the car, it is possible to reduce the internal diameter or size of outer walls 11 and to reduce bending mounts created by weight of the furnace structure.

Referring now to FIG. 3, furnaces 10A, 10B, 10C, 10D, 10E, 10F, 10G, 10H can be located on either side of a central transfer zone 28. The central transfer zone has a plurality of rails 29 for transfer carriage 30, the transfer carriage being mounted on suitable wheels or rollers 31 engaging the rails. Power means can be incorporated (not shown) therewith as required.

Cooling and loading or unloading stations or zones are indicated at 33 and 34. It also is possible to have only one such zone..

Movable car bottom 15 (FIG. 1) is shown with pieces of work thereon, the coils being placed thereon by suitable material handling means. Car bottom 15 is for use with any one of furnaces 10A, 10B, 10C, 10D. Car 38 is for use with any one of furnaces 10E, 10F, 10G, 10H.

The transfer carriage 30 may be double as shown with two pairs of car bottom receiving rails 36 thereon which are spaced and of a height to receive the movable car bottom from a furnace. It also can have two pairs of heating chamber 12 receiving rails 37 properly spaced and of a height to register with the rollers of the movable chamber walls.

As an example of one mode of operation, the transfer carriage 30 can have a loaded car, such as 38, placed thereon and transferred to a position where the empty track thereof is opposite furnace 10A. The cover 18 of furnace 10A is opened, and the car bottom in furnace 10A, upon which the material just treated is located, is moved onto the transfer carriage. The transfer carriage 30 is then moved far enough so that the loaded car bottom is aligned with the open furnace 10A, and the car bottom is then moved into the furnace. Following this, the furnace is closed and the transfer carriage is moved to a cooling and loading zone and to the tracks thereof so that the next loaded car can be placed thereon and transferred to the next furnace having material upon which the treating operation has been completed. Subsequent sequences of transfer can be carried out as desired.

The system can be operated as about to be described. Assume, for example, that furnace 10E has had its cover 18 opened and a movable car bottom 38 therein transferred to station 34. Carriage 30 is then moved (FIG. 3) until loaded car bottom previously placed thereon is in registry with opened furnace 10E. lt is then pushed into the furnace, the closure 18 lowered and the furnace is in readiness for the next heat treating cycle to be performed. A car bottom upon which the heat treating operation has been completed, and after the furnace is opened, which has been placed on carriage 30, can then be moved to the unloading area 33 or 34. Cars 35, 38 can be moved to either positions 33, 34 or 40.

When it becomes necessary to repair or to work on the movable bottoms, they can be moved in a similar manner to the rails 39 of the repair zone 40. Likewise, after a movable car bottom has been taken out of its furnace, the movable chamber walls can be transported on carriages 30 to rails 41 in repair area 40 for maintenance purposes if such is needed.

The car bottoms and chambers are interchangeable with each other and the various furnaces, the upstanding end walls of the car bottom being properly matched.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, the electric heating elements can be separated into zones so that each zone can be controlled to provide heat thereto in accordance with work requirements. As an example, the electric heating element of the arrangement seen in FIGS. 4 and 5 can be zoned as follows:

Zone 50 Front of arch of chamber means 12 and upper part of front bulkhead Zone 51 Middle arch and part of sidewalls Zone 52 Back of arch and upper part of rear wall Zone 53 Middle part of front portion of sidewalls and of front bulkhead Zone 54 Middle part of middle portion of sidewalls Zone 55 Middle part of back portion of sidewalls and rear wall Zone 56 Front length of car bottom and lower part of front bulkhead Zone 57 Middle length of car bottom and lower part of sidewall Zone 58 Back length of car and lower portion of rear sidewall The various zones can have suitable electric interconnecting means (not shown) for connecting the various zone portions when the car bottom is in place in a furnace chamber wall.

A heat treating cycle can be carried out on material in each furnace after being placed therein which could include a vacuum and/or gas atmosphere as desired.

It should be apparent that variations can be made in details of construction and of operation without departing from the spirit of the invention except as set forth in the appended claims.

Iclaim:

l. A heat treating furnace system comprising a plurality of vessels, interchangeable movable furnace chamber means, movable in and out of said vessels, interchangeable movable furnace bottom material carriers movablein and out of said chamber means in said vessels, transfer carriage means for selectively receiving said furnace bottom material carriers and said furnace chamber means, whereby said furnace chamber means and furnace bottom material carriers can be interchangeably moved relative to said vessels and toward loading and unloading zones.

2. A furnace system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the vessels have a selected atmosphere supplied thereto. a

3. A furnace system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the transfer carriage means has two pairs of rails for receiving movable car bottom material carriers and at least one pair of walled furnace chamber receiving rails.

4. A furnace system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the furnace chamber has wall means into which can be introduced temperature conditioning medium.

5. A furnace system as claimed in claim 4 wherein the conditioning medium is a cooling medium.

6. A furnace system as claimed in claim 1 wherein electrical heating means are employed.

7. A furnace system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the chamber means and car bottom material carriers have electrically heated units arranged in zones, some of said zones being divided between said carriers and chamber means, said divided zones being connectable with each other when the bottom material carrier is within a furnace chamber means.

8. A furnace system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the vessels have internal cooling means.

9. A furnace system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the transfer carriage moves along a path substantially perpendicular to the axis of said vessels.

10. A furnace system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the transfer carriage has means to move the same.

11. A furnace system as claimed in claim 1 wherein furnaces are located on either side of said transfer carria e means.

12. A furnace system as claimed in claim 1 w ereln the furnace chamber means is movably supported adjacent the sides thereof.

13. A heat treating furnace system comprising a plurality of furnaces having cooled wall vessels, movable walled furnace chamber means movable in and out of said vessels, movable car bottom material carriers movable in and out of said walled furnace chamber means, and transfer carriage means for selectively receiving said car bottom material carriers for loading and unloading said walled furnace chamber means and transporting said carriers to and from loading and unloading zones, said transfer carriage means having means to receive furnace chamber means and bottom material carriers thereon.

14. A furnace system as claimed in claim 1 wherein there is a centralized power supply system and furnace atmosphere supply system.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,5 @3 5 Dated June 97 Inventor(s) Karl H. Seelandt It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 2, line 19, "mounts" should read moments Signed and sealed this 10th day of October 1972.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.FLETCHER,JR. ROBERT GO'ITSCHALK Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents FORM P 1 (10-69) USCOMM-DC ooa'm-Pw 9 0.5 GOVIINMENT PRINTHIG OFFICE: 19.9 D'366-38l. 

